MONTREAL — Transcontinental Inc. said Tuesday it is raising its dividend rate by 6% with its next quarterly payment on April 30.

The Montreal-based printing and publishing company announced the dividend hike, to 17 cents per share quarterly and 68 cents on an annual basis, along with financial results showing a substantially higher first-quarter profit.

Its adjusted earnings rose 36.7% to $36.1 million, or 46 cents per share. Net income more than doubled to $37.9 million or 49 cents per share. Revenue grew 1.1% to $504.6 million.

Analysts had estimated 38 cents per share of earnings and $515.78 million of revenue.

Transcontinental said its profit benefited from restructuring its operations through acquisitions, divestitures and closures as well as cost-cutting and the rising value of the U.S. dollar.

It added that revenue growth was reduced by a slowdown in flyer printing and a challenging market for advertising spending.